The Red Bull Stratos pressurized capsule and spacesuit that Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner used to break the speed the sound while free-falling from the stratosphere last October are now on public display for the first time.

The Stratos "space jump" capsule and pressure suit made its world premiere as a museum exhibit on Friday (May 3) at Space Center Houston, the privately-run, official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.

Robert Pearlman

Some additional photos to those presented in the article:

Jurg Bolli

Will this be a permanent addition, or will this exhibit travel?

Robert Pearlman

According to Space Center Houston, there is no closing date set (yet), but will be on display "through the summer."

There has been no mention (yet) of additional venues.

Update: Future tour stops may include Huntsville, Chicago and Los Angeles (not necessarily in that order) before the capsule and suit land at the Smithsonian.

dabolton

Do you know the venue in Chicago?

Robert Pearlman

Red Bull has announced the dates and venues for the Red Bull Stratos Exhibit:

Space Center Houston, May 2 - Aug. 5

U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Aug. 9 - Oct. 28

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Feb. 4 - May 4

Smithsonian, TBA

p51

I wonder why an exhibit at KSC isn't in the works?

quote:Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:

U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Aug. 9 - Oct. 28

Freaking sweet, I'll get to see it at Huntsville in September!

Robert Pearlman

The Red Bull Stratos exhibit left Space Center Houston today (Aug. 5). It opens next at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

p51

A pal of mine texted me several shots of this set up in Huntsville, apparently in the Davidson Center building. It's all set up there now and the photos looked pretty much as the Houston setup did above. I'm really looking forward to seeing this in person, especially since I've seen the Kittinger display at the USAF museum several years back...

DavidH

It's actually on the main floor of the original museum building, versus Davidson, and it is a very polished exhibit.

The National Air and Space Museum welcomes Red Bull Stratos into its permanent collection. The Museum will display the temporary exhibition Red Bull Stratos: Mission to the Edge of Space from April 2 to May 26, 2014. The exhibition includes the pressurized balloon gondola in which Felix Baumgartner ascended to an altitude of 39,045 meters (127,852 feet) – the edge of space – over Roswell, New Mexico on October 14, 2012, and the pressure suit that he wore on a flight to 29,610 meters (97,145 feet) on July 25. During his record-breaking descent, Baumgartner reached a maximum speed of 1,342 kmh (834 mph). The records achieved include maximum speed of descent without a drogue (small parachute used to provide stability); record exit altitude; and the greatest vertical descent without a drogue.

The balloon gondola and the suit Baumgartner wore during his record-breaking jump will eventually be put on permanent display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The museum will also devote its next GE Aviation lecture (April 2, 7:00 p.m.) to the Red Bull Stratos mission:

Record-Setting Capsule, Pressure Suit and Parachute Donated to the Smithsonian

The capsule from which Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped to Earth Oct. 14, 2012, is joining the permanent collection of the National Air and Space Museum. The capsule is featured in the exhibit, "Red Bull Stratos: Mission to the Edge of Space," which will be on display at the museum in Washington, D.C., from April 2 until May 26. At the conclusion of the exhibit, Baumgartner's capsule, pressure suit and parachute will be housed at the museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Baumgartner's record-breaking jump from a height of 24 miles (127,852 feet) at a speed of 843.6 mph (Mach 1.25), distinguished him as the first human to break the speed of sound in free fall. His jump occurred 65 years after test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier flying an experimental rocket-powered airplane. Baumgartner also broke three other world records: highest altitude for a piloted balloon, highest free fall and longest-distance free fall, leaving the record for the longest time in free fall to retired Air Force Col. Joseph W. Kittinger who set the previous skydive record in 1960. Kittinger participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator.

"The gondola that carried Felix Baumgartner 24 miles up into the air, and the pressure suit and parachute that protected him on his way back down, are great additions to the museum's collection of historic air and spacecraft that pushed the limits of technology and tested the human determination to achieve," said Tom D. Crouch, the Smithsonian's senior curator of aeronautics. Fully one-third of the museum's collection of aircraft and spacecraft are "firsts" or associated with major historic events, or technological, scientific or cultural achievements.

The Red Bull Stratos Mission made contributions to aerospace safety and established Baumgartner in the record books. Achievements included the development of a new generation of space suits and parachute systems, the establishment of protocols for exposure to the extreme conditions of pressure and temperature and the study of the impact of supersonic acceleration and deceleration on the human body. In addition to the historic hardware, the exhibit includes audio-visual and interactive elements.

Rick Mulheirn

The Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham, West Yorkshire will host the Red Bull Stratos Exhibition July 24 to Aug. 31, 2015. Exhibits include Felix Baumgartner's pressure suit and the high altitude pressure capsule from which he made his 128,000 foot jump in October 2012.

I was fortunate to be amongst a small group invited by Red Bull for the launch event. Host for the evening was TV presenter Sarah Cruddas. While the auditorium may have been chilly, the evenings' events, Red Bull's hospitality and good company combined for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Helen Sharman kicked off proceedings with a talk about her life and the path that took her to the Mir space station some 24 years previous. It was the first time I had heard Helen speak and her presentation was as enthusiastic as it was enlightening. Anu Ojha OBE (Director of Education and Space Communications at the National Space Centre) spoke at length about the challenges, the technical difficulties and the dangers associated with high altitude skydiving. If anybody had any doubts about the enormity of the Red Bull Stratos achievement they were quickly dispelled.

For me, the evening had already been brilliant but there was more to come. Beef Strogonoff and a selection of mixed vegetables... courtesy of Red Bull, followed by lashings of Felix Baumgartner, Art Thompson and Colonel Joe Kittinger.

Post dinner activities comprised a one hour interview with all three and a short Q&A to finish. Joe's wit, Art's technical prowess and Felix's modesty complemented each other admirably and to the point that nobody wanted it to finish. But time was pressing and Joe, Felix and Art had kindly agreed to round the evening off with a signing session which was conducted with a lightness of touch and good humour that had characterised the whole evening.

I would like to thank Red Bull and Sarah Cruddas in particular for affording me the opportunity to attend this wonderful event. And I'd also like to thank Mr. and Mrs Owl, Ken Willoughby, Jenny and Mike B. for the good company.

Rick Mulheirn

p51

Not to change subjects, but I can't help but wonder how Dr. Alan Eustace's later (higher) jump changes the impact of this exhibit?

Has their been any word on how the Baumgartner jump will be portrayed in the Smithsonian now that the record got shattered and if Eustance's suit has been requested by the Smithsonian, too?

Rick Mulheirn

Baumgartner's altitude record may have been broken but his place in history is secure in as much as he was the first skydiver to travel at supersonic speed.

MrSpace86

Is there more than one capsule? It is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. The pressure suit is not on display though. The Red Bull Stratos capsule is right next to the Breitling Orbiter Gondola.

drscoop

There is indeed more than one capsule — the one in West Yorkshire looks like the one that was at Hangar 7, the Red Bull private collection in Salzburg, Austria. I understand it was an engineering testbed and backup capsule. Similarly for the suit on tour with the capsule. They are both pretty much identical to the actual flight articles as far as I could tell, apart from the handrails on the capsule itself.

Robert Pearlman

quote:Originally posted by p51:...if Eustace's suit has been requested by the Smithsonian, too?

The National Air and Space Museum hosted Eustace for the National Air and Space Society's Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen Flight Jacket Night on Thursday (Nov. 5). Today, behind the scenes, he donated the suit he wore for his record-setting jump to the museum.